ABC News(PHOENIX) -- Shortly after Jodi Arias was found guilty Wednesday of the first-degree murder of her ex-boyfriend, she told a local TV station that she would "rather get death than life" in prison.

"I said years ago I'd rather get death than life and that still is true today," Arias told KSAZ-TV. "I believe death is the ultimate freedom, so I'd rather just have my freedom as soon as I can get it."

She told KSAZ that longevity runs in her family and she "didn't want to spent the rest of her life in one place."

She will face the possibility of the death penalty in a hearing that will begin on Thursday.

Cheers erupted from the crowds waiting outside the courtroom in Maricopa County, Ariz., on Wednesday, as Arias was convicted of murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in a vicious attack in 2008.

The case will now move directly into its sentencing phase, with Arias and the jury appearing back in court Thursday to begin arguing over whether she deserves to be condemned to death.

If sentenced to death, Arias, 32, will be the third woman on Arizona's death row.